Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis Bio

Milena Markovna Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress who rose to prominence in the late 1990s and has since built a career spanning television, voice acting, and mainstream film. Born in Chernivtsi in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, she emigrated with her family to Los Angeles in 1991 and went on to star as Jackie Burkhart on the Fox sitcom That ’70s Show from 1998 to 2006. She has voiced Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy since 1999, making her one of the most recognizable comedic and dramatic performers of her generation.

Early Life and Background

Milena Markovna Kunis was born into a Jewish family on August 14, 1983, in the Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi, at the time a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. Her mother, Elvira, was a physics teacher who ran a pharmacy, and her father, Mark Kunis, was a mechanical engineer who later worked as a cab driver in the United States. Kunis has an older brother named Michael, and her grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Within the family, Russian was the primary language spoken at home, and Kunis has stated she does not speak Ukrainian.

Her parents decided to leave the Soviet Union after seeing limited prospects for their children. In 1991, when she was seven years old, the family emigrated to Los Angeles under a religious-refugee visa, arriving in New York with only $250 and moving on to California within days. On her second day in Los Angeles, Kunis was enrolled at Rosewood Elementary School without knowing a word of English. She later described the experience as feeling “blind and deaf” at age seven.

Kunis attended Hubert Howe Bancroft Middle School in Los Angeles and used an on-set tutor for most of her high school years while filming That ’70s Show. After a brief enrollment at the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies, she transferred to Fairfax High School and graduated in 2001. She went on to briefly attend the University of California, Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University. Kunis is a naturalized United States citizen and has described her ethnicity as 96 to 98 percent Ashkenazi Jewish based on genealogical DNA testing.

Path to Acting

At age nine, Kunis was enrolled by her father in after-school acting classes at the Beverly Hills Studios, where she met her future manager, Susan Curtis. Her first audition landed her a role in a Barbie commercial, followed shortly by work for the Lisa Frank product line. Her first television appearances came in 1994, with small roles on Days of Our Lives and Baywatch, alongside minor parts on 7th Heaven and Walker, Texas Ranger. She also took supporting roles in the films Santa with Muscles, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, and the Angelina Jolie vehicle Gia, in which she played the young Gia Carangi.

At the age of ten, Kunis auditioned for the lead role in Make a Wish, Molly but was instead cast in a secondary part. In 1998, she auditioned for That ’70s Show despite being only fourteen years old, telling casting directors she would be eighteen without specifying when. Although the producers eventually learned her real age, they cast her as Jackie Burkhart, and the show ran for eight seasons. She won two consecutive Young Star Awards for Best Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series in 1999 and 2000. In 1999, she replaced Lacey Chabert as the voice of Meg Griffin on Family Guy, winning the role in part on the strength of her work on That ’70s Show.

Mila Kunis Career

Early Career (1994–2000)

During the late 1990s, Kunis balanced small-screen television appearances with her breakout sitcom role. Her work on Days of Our Lives, Baywatch, and That ’70s Show established her presence on the Fox network at a young age. Her performance on That ’70s Show brought her two consecutive Young Star Awards for Best Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series in 1999 and 2000.

In 1999, Kunis was cast as the new voice of Meg Griffin on Family Guy, replacing Lacey Chabert. Creator Seth MacFarlane cited her natural, youthful vocal quality as a defining asset for the character. She was nominated for an Annie Award in the category of Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production in 2007 for her work on the series.

Breakthrough (2001–2012)

In 2001, Kunis appeared in the comedy Get Over It opposite Kirsten Dunst, followed by the straight-to-DVD horror film American Psycho 2 in 2002. She starred in Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, filmed in 2004 but released in 2007, and co-starred with Jon Heder in Moving McAllister. In 2008, she landed the role of Rachel Jansen in the Judd Apatow-produced comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall after auditioning unsuccessfully for Knocked Up. The film grossed $105 million worldwide and earned her a Teen Choice Award nomination.

Also in 2008, Kunis portrayed the assassin Mona Sax opposite Mark Wahlberg in the action film Max Payne, based on the video game of the same name. The film grossed $85 million worldwide. In 2010, she starred with Denzel Washington in the action film The Book of Eli, which grossed over $157 million worldwide. That same year, she appeared in the comedy Date Night with Tina Fey and Steve Carell.

Kunis reached a critical peak with her role in the 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky and co-starring Natalie Portman. She played a rival ballet dancer in a film that earned five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and grossed over $329 million worldwide. She won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress at the 67th Venice International Film Festival, and won the Best Supporting Actress award at the 37th annual Saturn Awards. In 2011, she starred opposite Justin Timberlake in the romantic comedy Friends with Benefits, which grossed over $149 million worldwide. In 2012, she co-starred with Mark Wahlberg in Ted, directed by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, which became her most commercially successful film to date, grossing $549 million worldwide.

Notable Works and Milestones

Kunis’s signature work includes her leading role in Black Swan, which established her dramatic range, and her voice work as Meg Griffin on Family Guy, which has spanned more than two decades. Her commercial milestones include Ted as her highest-grossing film, alongside successful comedies such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Friends with Benefits, and Bad Moms. She is also a producer through her company Orchard Farm Productions, which has a first-look deal with ABC Studios.

Mila Kunis Award Nominations

Across her career, Mila Kunis has earned recognition from major film and television awards bodies for both dramatic and comedic performances. She received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Black Swan, along with two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Outstanding Performance by a Cast for the same film. She was also nominated for an Annie Award for Best Voice Acting for her work on Family Guy, and earned Critics’ Choice Awards nominations for Best Supporting Actress in Black Swan and Best Actress in a Comedy in Ted.

Mila Kunis Awards Won

Kunis has won a select number of industry-recognized awards, including the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress at the 67th Venice International Film Festival for her performance in Black Swan. She also received the Best Supporting Actress award at the 37th annual Saturn Awards for the same role, and won two consecutive Young Star Awards for Best Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series in 1999 and 2000 for That ’70s Show.

Mila Kunis Family

Mila Kunis was born to a Jewish family with roots in the Soviet Union. Her mother, Elvira, worked as a physics teacher and ran a pharmacy, while her father, Mark Kunis, was a mechanical engineer. She has an older brother named Michael, and her grandparents were Holocaust survivors. The family left the Soviet Union in 1991 for the United States, settling in Los Angeles.

Personal Life

Kunis began dating actor Macaulay Culkin in 2002, and their relationship ended amicably in January 2011. She later began dating her former That ’70s Show co-star Ashton Kutcher in 2012. The couple became engaged in February 2014 and married in July 2015 in Oak Glen, California. They have two children: a daughter born in October 2014 and a son born in November 2016. The family resides in a sustainable farmhouse in Beverly Hills, designed by the couple and architect Howard Backen.